The Person From Porlock
... At that moment the Author was unfortunately called out by a person on business from Porlock and on his return found to his mortification that though he retained some vague recollection of his vision, yet with the exception of eight or toil scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away.
— Coleridge’s Preface to Kubla Khan: A Fragment
Unkind fate sent the Porlock person
To collect fivepence from a poet’s house;
Pocketing which old debt he drove away,
Heedless and gay, homeward bound for Porlock.
To collect fivepence from a poet’s house;
Pocketing which old debt he drove away,
Heedless and gay, homeward bound for Porlock.
O Porlock person, habitual scapegoat,
Should any masterpiece be marred or scotched,
I wish your burly fist on the front door
Flad banged yet oftener in literature!
Should any masterpiece be marred or scotched,
I wish your burly fist on the front door
Flad banged yet oftener in literature!